FINDING GOD
The goal of enlightenment
is finding and becoming one with God. As the delusions of
the self are illuminated, the truth gradually becomes
known. One becomes more relaxed, more aware, and more
content. Each new truth one finds, brings new joy and
gladness. One may realize ones entire human existence as
an opportunity for spiritual growth. Begin to grow ones
spirit in the knowledge of that which is permanent and
everlasting- God.
Through the Process of Illumination, one climbs a ladder
of understanding that leads one to God. One may or may
not climb the rungs of the ladder in order, but at the
top is the Ultimate Truth one is seeking. The Steps of
Illumination reveal the following:
The Steps of Illumination:
Recognize delusion.
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Realize one can join God.
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Recognize fate.
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End the cycle of pleasure and pain.
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Reconcile consciousness.
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Illuminate the self.
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Live without expectations.
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Union with God temporarily.
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See the world through new eyes.
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Do God's will.
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Reconcile with truth.
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Overcome the flesh.
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Overcome fear of death.
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Final union with God after death.
RECOGNIZE DELUSION
Most people in this world live desperate lives. They
anxiously seek and gather material possessions right up
to the day they die. They spend their whole lives
posturing. People wrongly try to find happiness through
possessions and pleasures outside of themselves. However,
from a spiritual point of view, all baggage is excess
baggage.
Nothing which can be held in the hand is lasting. Even
ones hand itself shall perish. What point then, to spend
ones life building a kingdom here on Earth, which one
cannot rule from ones grave? Especially when the world,
and everything in it, is but a castle of sand.
God is the only thing which is everlasting, all else is
temporary. No castle, no mountain, no country, not even
Earth itself will last forever. Thus, it only makes sense
to find out as much about God as one can. Search for
truth in this world of delusion. Recognize the
temporality of all things and that which is perpetuating
delusion.
Idolatry, perhaps, is the greatest delusion one faces.
Before one knows truth, one knows only that which one
takes to be the truth. This turns out to be a false God.
One may be setting up and worshiping false Gods which
cannot provide the peace and contentment of the actual
truth. One may be worshiping themselves, money, pleasure,
nature, flesh, etc., and thus miss God altogether. And
yet God is the only truth and permanence which exists.
Only worshipping, or rather aligning oneself with, the
one true God which created everything can bring one the
peace one seeks.
Reexamine everything so that you gain a new understanding
of everything. Everything in this Universe, for example,
is made of atoms grouped together temporarily in space,
or time. The atoms which make up these things will
someday break apart releasing heat. Even the air which
one peers through is made of gaseous atoms. What's more,
everything in this world is at least loosely connected,
so in actuality, we are all connected to our surroundings
and to each other.
After one recognizes the delusions perpetuated around
oneself, it follows naturally that one should like to
know the truth which explains the delusion. Especially
since the truth is, was, and always will be the truth.
The truth is the only thing permanent that one may know.
Ironically, one may find that when one sets out seeking
answers, one finds that the answers have set out seeking
them! Seek, question, and pray for truth and God will
reveal it to you.
How many times have you heard that "you don't know
what you've got until it's gone." This is so true.
Realize what you already have and to thank God for it.
Count your blessings. Truly, there are too many to count.
Too often, in the world of delusion in which one lives,
one gets caught up in the pursuits of the flesh. One gets
upset about a job or a relationship gone sour. In ones
selfishness, one forgets how lucky one is to be alive and
how thankful one should be for all the goodness in ones
life. Be thankful for all of creation including the air
you breathe. There will always be disappointments in this
life, but that is simply the nature of this fallen world.
Don't let disappointment get you down. Realize, that
depression is simply selfishness.
REALIZE ONE CAN JOIN GOD
Illumination of the self will reveal that you may indeed
become a part of the body, or family, of God. You are
alive aren't you? Where do you think you came from? Even
if evolution was true, and that mankind evolved from an
atomic explosion long ago, would not evolution be God's
plan? If you don't believe in God, then get on your knees
and worship your lucky stars, because your chances of
being alive are one in a zillion, zillion, zillion!
Frankly, it is impossible for something to exist, like
the Universe, without something existing prior to it, to
cause it to exist.
As I am sure you are aware by now, you are not God. To be
God oneself, one has to have always been God, and has to
always be God. Why try to be God for a day when you can
be with the real God for eternity? You can become a part
of the truth you can perceive and the underlying truth
you cannot. After all, if you didn't think you could find
God, why would you seek enlightenment?
The people you meet may also become, or may already be,
joined with God. Is not all our blood red? Are we not all
Homo Sapiens, and thus siblings? If we are all the same
species, do we not all somewhere back in time have the
same mother and father? Doesn't this make all of mankind
brothers, sisters, and cousins? It is the ignorance of
the flesh which separates us from each other, not the
spirit. It is because one can become more than just flesh
that one can know more than just flesh. To find God,
remove all the obstacles one has put between oneself and
God.
Belief in God is the One True Core, or root, belief that
is needed for enlightenment. If you can illuminate this
one belief, you can align your other disorganized beliefs
about it and become enlightened. You may wonder what
rational reasons there are for belief in God. However,
true belief in God requires faith. What this means is
that you receive the reasons after you believe, and these
reasons are indeed rational. Graft yourself to the tree
of life and it will grow through you and any ignorance
you still have will drop away. Become connected to God,
knowing the reality of God.
When one believes in God, it is logical to want to know
what ones identity is in God. As long as ones identity is
in ones flesh, one will not find God. If one puts ones
identity in God, one finds God in oneself. Do not put
your identity in your flesh since it is temporary; put
your identity in God which is eternal.
How is it one is not born already connected to God? It is
said that mankind had fallen out of grace because of sin.
There is no place for God and sin to coexist. One of the
secrets of enlightenment is to know what sin is and to
stop doing it. It is sin which separates one from God.
Fix ones ignorant beliefs and attach oneself back to God.
Did God create mankind or did mankind create God?
Certainly there are many man-made gods. These false gods
are created in the image of the passions of mankind. To
say that God is a projection of mankind's desire for God
does not disprove the existence of God. One may after a
hard day's work, desire the night to come, but this does
not mean that night is just a projection of mankind's
desire for it, and that night does not exist. The one
true God is the creator of everything. God created us,
God loves us, and wants us to attach, or reattach,
ourselves. It has been said that God has no
grandchildren, only sons and daughters. The alternative
to joining the family of God is simply death. The flesh
dies with the flesh. There is only true life in spirit.
RECOGNIZE FATE
There is a reason things are the way they are. It is
God's plan called fate. When I use the word
"fate" I don't mean "karma" or
"destiny". The word "destiny" implies
that ones fate is beyond ones control. The word
"karma" on the other hand implies that ones
fate is entirely up to oneself and has been following one
in "past lives" and will continue to follow one
into ones "future lives". When I use the word
"fate", I mean the sum of ones beliefs, past
beliefs, and forces of ones environment, which includes
God, which actually determines ones future.
God is in ones environment and one may become a part of
the spiritual body of God. The way in which one is acting
on the environment and the way in which the environment
is acting upon one is the place where one is right now.
Nothing is random. What people call
"coincidence" is fate at work, and subject to
God's ultimate plan. If one puts a bunch of chemicals
into a pot and stirs, the chemicals are going to behave
in a certain way. If one was to break things down into
molecules and atoms, one would see that there is a
specific reason why things behave the way they do. This
does not mean that no matter what one does, one will end
up in a certain place. On the contrary, by realizing how
God works, one may learn to ride the waves of fate. After
all, we have free will. SEE WAVES OF FATE.
END THE CYCLE OF PLEASURE AND PAIN
Inside each of us, there might be said to be one or more
pendulums swinging back and forth between pleasure and
pain. Each pendulum inside of oneself is distracting one
from the truth of God which is relatively
"still" and "unmoving".
Examine each pendulum which swings from pleasure to pain
within oneself. Such a pendulum generates so much evil in
ones life. Pleasure is an emotion in which one feels
happy, but feeling happy and being contented are not the
same thing.
One often seeks the emotion of pleasure to counteract the
emotion of pain which exists elsewhere in ones life. One
seeks pleasure because pain can be negated with pleasure.
Unfortunately, pleasure itself is temporary and ends in
desire. Think about it: Past pleasure creates desire for
more pleasure; present pleasure creates desire to keep
pleasure from ending; and the promise of future pleasure
is desire itself. Desire is suffering. So all forms of
pleasure contain suffering. Pleasure fuels desire; the
desire to keep pleasure from ending. Desire is
insatiable. Desire is not contentment.
So many people have wrongly come to the conclusion that
they can make pleasure permanent even though they have
never been able to do so before. They wrongly think that
if they just had more money, power, etc. they'd be
permanently happy. The truth is that no pleasure is
permanent. Even if one had more money, one would find
that one cannot buy the love, peace, joy, and contentment
that one only gets from a relationship with truth.
If one illuminates why one has this need for pleasure and
pain, one can begin to overcome ones desire. Pleasure and
pain make slaves of people. God should be ones only
master. If one concentrates on stopping this pendulum,
then one may face the pain and set oneself free of it by
knowing and believing the truth. The truthful alternative
to the cycle of pleasure and pain, is illuminating the
underlying pain itself. If the underlying pain is gone,
one has no need to disguise ones pain with the temporary
emotion of pleasure. Without pain, one is content
already. To stop the pendulum, focus on non-pain and
non-pleasure.
Distraction, which is discontent, is a moving target, the
truth is still. The stillness of truth is permanent joy,
contentment, and peace. Psalm 46 in the Bible says,
"Be still, and know that I am God."
The senses are the doorways of both good and evil. Since
it is through the senses that pleasure and pain come,
close ones eyes to pain and pleasure so that one sees the
truth. When one stops associating pain and pleasure with
ones observations, one frees oneself of the emotions of
pain and pleasure. Focus on the things one desires and
reject them. They are temporary. No longer desire them.
See them as objects of ones weakness and for the evil
they cause in ones life. Focus on the pendulums, or
beliefs, which are causing one pain. Let go of the pain.
Pain is not you. Pain is not yours to keep. If the past
is causing you pain, let it go! It cannot hurt you
anymore. Forgive and let go of all pain you cling to and
find peace. See things as they really are not how you
want them to be.
Once this imaginary pendulum is stopped, a new
contentment enters in its place. Even pleasure does not
seem so attractive any longer. When desire is conquered,
even the desire for desire is conquered. If one is going
to have any desire, it should be the desire to end desire
and become enlightened.
God created each of us perfectly and has created a
perfect life for each of us. God has created a perfect
you and wants you to live the perfect life that has been
made for you. When one accepts the ideal that God has
created, and stops fighting against ones own perfection,
one may enter the kingdom of God.
RECONCILE CONSCIOUSNESS
The Process of Illumination reconciles beliefs with
truth. As ones beliefs are evaluated, cleaned up, and
aligned with the One True Core belief in God, ones
consciousness begins to order itself automatically into a
sort of "superconsciousness". Ones conscious
begins to line up with ones subconscious so that they
become one consciousness aligned with God.
The superconscious is consciousness cohesively ordered so
that it readily perceives truth and readily identifies
error. It is said that we only use 10% of our brains.
When one reconciles ones consciousness, one increases the
amount of ones brain one uses and decreases the effort
required while thinking. It's like installing an
interstate for truth instead of using little twisting
dirt roads that go nowhere.
The entire time that one is awake, one spends ones time
observing and sorting ones observations. Observation is
consciousness. The closer ones observations are to ones
sensory receptions, the closer one is to the truth. To
reconcile your observations to your sensory receptions,
"quiet" your sensory discriminations, and just
"see". Stop looking and start seeing. Ones
conscious is that which one has chosen. What one has not
noticed, or chosen, is ones subconsious. By chosing
everything, and noticing all, one is able to reconcile
ones consciousness.
ILLUMINATE THE SELF
One who overestimates oneself, underestimates the truth.
Illumination of ones "self" will certainly
reduce ones ignorance regarding ones "self".
After all, in ones selfishness, one concerns oneself with
matters of this world. In ones ignorance, one associates
oneself with pleasure, pain, youth, power, flesh, and
wealth. All things which are temporary and are lost with
death.
In ones ignorance, one is fighting a losing battle. One
was born into this world naked and so shall one leave it.
Look for truth and union with God. Ones own self-
interest may become a stumbling block to enlightenment.
Ones "self" is not to be eliminated but
illuminated. After all, the self is a gift from God, and
without it, we might not be able to tell each other
apart. Imagine for a moment that you and everyone else
are really the same person talking to itself.
Interesting isn't it? Ones self not only separates one
from everyone else, but from everything else as well.
Without ones "self", one has difficulty
separating oneself from the rocks at ones feet. What is
needed is to understand how one has been ignoring God and
pursuing temporary gains in ones selfishness.
It may be very scary at first to see the world as it
really is. After all, one may have spent ones entire life
up to this point in delusion. However, it does not take
long to get used to seeing things as they really are.
After one knows the truth, it is difficult to slide back
into seeing things the way one used to.
One may feel lost at times on the way to enlightenment.
This is because selfish and delusionary goals one may
have had for oneself are illuminated but not yet
replaced. One may feel an empty void where ones delusion
once dwelt. If one has spent ones life up to this point
gathering earthly possessions, and had planned to
continue ones life in this way to the bitter end, then
ones illuminations will reveal the absurdity of ones
behaviors but may not yet offer an alternative. Don't be
alarmed, there is an alternative as one may soon
discover.
End the war with your enemies. When the "self"
is illuminated, the wall between oneself and others is
lowered. One realizes one may become a limb of the
spiritual body of God. If one can find God in oneself,
one may find God in others as well. Strange as it may
seem, these "others" may be limbs of the
spiritual body of God also. Learn to love everyone, for
God loves everyone. See the goodness in everyone you
meet, often when one looks for it, one finds it. A quick
ignorant glance at the wall of truth, and the ignorant
person saw the word "W A R", but a closer look
revealed "We're All Related."
Ones "self" is actually a concept built from
ones observations. There is an old story which might help
explain the illumination of the self:
A student of truth was given an onion and told to peel
away the layers to find his true self. Each layer
corresponds to the veils of ignorant observations one has
associated with oneself. The student continued to peel
the layers away until there was nothing left. "There
is nothing here!" said the student, "Does this
mean that I am nothing?" "On the
contrary," replied the teacher, "when the last
layer of the onion has been pulled away, what is left is
the entire Universe." The onion has become a union.
LIVE WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS
Expectation is the primary cause of depression. Yet what
is expectation? Expectation is simply delusionary
speculation of the future. In reality, the past is gone
and the future does not yet exist! Our expectations are
just fabrications of our imaginations. One can never
achieve contentment if is it lies in the past or is
always around the corner. This does not mean one should
expect nothing. To expect nothing is still to expect. Do
not expect at all! Live in the "now" for it is
all one really has and is the only thing one can
influence directly.
A person who lives for today is truly happy and content
and in charge. It is expectation that causes so much
pain. Things seldom work out the way one, in ones
self-interest, desires. Likewise, many of ones fears are
unwarranted. Trust in God for it is through God's will
that all things work out. Hope, but do not expect. Live
for the moment and make the most of all opportunities
that come your way. Do not wait around for your
delusionary expectations to come true. Seize the moment,
for you may die tonight if it is God's will. Everything
happens now. If you are putting something off, do it now.
Procrastination is expectation that one will have time
later to do what one will not do right now.
Do not even expect eternal life. To do so would be to
judge oneself worthy of it. To seek eternal life is
selfish. Do God's will and trust God to do with one what
God will. This does not mean one will not attain eternal
life or that one has not already attained eternal life,
it means only that expecting the Kingdom of God to come
in the future is denying that the Kingdom of God has
already come in the present and is "in your
midst".
Expecting to be happy in the future is denying happiness
which already exists in the present. Likewise, expecting
future unhappiness is denying present happiness. In
expecting life after death, one is expecting death. Do
not even expect that you will grow old and die. Prepare
for old age, retirement, and death, but do not expect old
age, retirement, and death. Nevertheless, the promise of
eternal life is ones great hope. After all, who would not
harvest the good fruit but leave it instead to rot on the
vine? Who would not bring back from the dead those one
loved if one had the power to do so?
Retrospection, or "living in the past", is as
much a stumbling block to happiness as expectation, or
"living in the future". If one misses the past,
is living in the past, or is upset with the present, how
can one be happy with the present? The past is dead.
Retrospection is a cause of pain. The past is gone and
there is nothing one can do about it. Rejoice, however,
for it's not where one is from, it's where one is at that
matters. One cannot go back and change ones old choices.
Let go of the guilt one holds about past decisions.
Hindsight is always 20/20. Even if one went back in time
and changed the past, one would not know how that change
would ultimately affect the present. Such change could
actually work out for the worse! It is important to
realize that enlightenment is not learning how to get
what you want, but rather, learning how not to want at
all.
If one isn't living in the present, the present will only
continue to reveal and manifest the dissonance between
the way one wants things to be and the way they really
are. Any disappointment in the present is suffering and
causes stress, anxiety, and aging. Reconciliation with
the present, or "the now", is reconciliation
with truth and reduces stress, increases health,
longevity, and happiness. If one is looking at the past,
one is backing into the future. You belong where you are
right now, and that doesn't mean you aren't going
anywhere. Learn to accept rather than expect.
Life itself is a gift from God. Count ones blessings and
celebrate life rather than feel sorry for oneself because
everything is not exactly the way one desires. Each of us
is so blessed, no matter what unfortunate circumstances
we may find ourselves, that truly we should be falling on
our knees in thanks. Though one may be deaf, dumb, blind,
quadriplegic, incarcerated, retarded, dying, or otherwise
impaired, still be thankful for life itself. Find inside
oneself the smile of perfect love which is God.
UNION WITH GOD TEMPORARILY
In the pursuit of enlightenment, and in response to ones
increasing illumination, one may be touched by God and
get a glimpse of the truth which exists. One finds peace
and awareness of the true presence of God. Ask God to
reveal the truth to you. When one asks God to reveal the
truth, one is given the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is
the Holy Spirit within a person that leads them to the
truth and convicts them of the errors of their ways. To
be filled with the Holy Spirit is a glimpse of
enlightenment, but the feeling itself is only temporary
as all of ones aberrant beliefs have not yet been
illuminated. The Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of
a person when one asks God to reveal the truth to
oneself. From that moment on, one is led by the Holy
Spirit to be sanctified in truth. Union with God is
achieved when ones will and God's will become one. When
one no longer fights against the truth and accepts it as
ones own, one gains the true peace of God.
You may have already had an experience which is leading
you to find and become one with God. (If you hadn't you
probably wouldn't be reading this.) It is said that this
experience, or realization, itself is the Holy Spirit
coming into ones heart. The desire to find and become one
with God itself is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For many, it is like a wave of truth passing through ones
body, and suddenly, "one knows" or knows one
needs to know more. After witnessing the truth, one is
never the same again. After tasting God, nothing else
will do. After being "convicted of ones sins"
by the Holy Spirit, falling back into ones old ways makes
one subject to the "discipline of God".
In this hyper-awareness state, or understanding, of truth
one gains God's knowledge of the difference between right
and wrong. It is a glimpse of the underside of the fabric
of the Universe. It is not as though one sees anything
new, it is a new way of seeing. While the world is the
same, the way one sees the world is not the same. It is
ones "re-birthday" for one may indeed be
"born again" spiritually.
This experience might be called the "real"
baptism, for one is anointed with the Holy Spirit, which
itself is God, leading one to a greater understanding.
Baptism with water is only symbolic of the real baptism,
which is by the living water, or Holy Spirit. After all,
who could be saved by regular water or would have water
as their God? Every time you take a shower or jump into a
swimming pool you are not being baptized. Baptism with
water is only the first sign of obedience and thanks for
being forgiven of ones sins and choosing to follow God.
SEE THE WORLD THROUGH NEW EYES
After one has had a so called "religious
experience", one is never quite the same again. One
now has a true belief in God based on ones own
observation, not on blind faith. See the whole world more
clearly. See that everything is the work of God. See the
big picture in all things. See the truth regarding all
things. Be more content for one has illuminated the truth
of God's existence. Be more peaceful and less concerned
with temporary things. The "scales" have fallen
from ones eyes. God's eyes are given as ones own. New
eyes give their attention to the spirit of God and not to
the world of flesh.
Ones eyes have been clouded with pain. As pain is
removed, one sees more clearly. Erroneous observations
have led one "east", or clouded ones eyes to
the magnificence, bounty, miracle, and brilliance of all
creation. Perhaps it is the error of mankind, knowing
evil, that blinds one to beauty and splendor. One is
still in the Garden of Eden but is unable to see it's
glory until one regains true sight. How sad it is to gaze
about God's garden with the eyes of God and see people
defiling God's garden with the fire of their sin. If they
only knew who and where they were!
Each new illumination brings liberty. Before one is
illuminated, one attempts to do God's work oneself. When
one lets God be God, one frees oneself of the excess
baggage of delusion and ignorance. By enlightening ones
load one achieves freedom, contentment, and increased
opportunity to go further and enjoy the journey of life.
Each illumination lifts a particular belief, changing
ones observations from despair to joy.
DO GOD'S WILL
The more reconciled one is with God, the more one follows
God's will. To some, doing God's will may sound like
being a slave or mindless zombie, but it means that ones
will is becoming aligned with God's will, not that one is
doing God's will against ones own will. When ones own
will is not God's will, one is actually living in error
anyway, so it only makes sense to do God's will if one
knows God's will. Whenever one walks with God, one is
walking in joy, contentment, gladness, and happiness.
When one walks without God, one is walking alone into the
darkness of delusion. Ones own free will is ones self.
What is the will of God? The will of God is for one to be
made holy. Give up ones iniquity and live in truth. There
is a special plan that God reveals to each one of us. God
would at least like one to believe, and live, in truth;
help all others in need; love and trust God, and respect
God's workings. Only in this way is one considered a
servant of God. Become a servant of God. Be like the good
steward who faithfully takes care of his master's
vineyard while his master is away.
RECONCILE WITH TRUTH
One may have found peace. One may have found happiness
and joy. One may really be living right, perhaps for the
first time in ones life. The more one reconciles oneself
with truth, the more one is reconciling oneself with God.
But how is one to reconcile oneself completely with truth
when one is not truth oneself? How can the night walk
hand in hand with the day? Try as one might, one can
never be truth. To be the truth is to be
indistinguishable from it. Sadly, one is indeed
distinguishable from the truth. One cannot be perfect all
the time, if ever at all. To even think of sin in ones
mind is to sin. How then to bridge this final gap between
oneself and God? One can keep trying to be perfect, but
it seems a losing battle. One cannot escape ones flesh.
One may know God in ones flesh, but if one wants to break
the bonds of certain death, reconcile oneself with truth
which is the only thing that is truly lasting. Simply
knowing God is not enough. Even the devil knows God. It's
not who you know, it's who knows you! One needs to find a
way to reconcile oneself completely with truth. Truth is
a part of God, and in fact, the truth is God. If one can
just graft oneself to truth, one is automatically
connected to God.
Since we are not able to do it ourselves, we have been
revealed a way to complete the circuit between ourselves
and God. This is through someone who has bridged this
gap. Someone who is perfect. Anyone who has bridged the
gap must be the truth, fully enlightened, and must have
their roots firmly in God because they are a part of God.
As a matter of fact, only one could do this, as there is
only one truth. If one grafts oneself to the truth, then
one is saved by the truth. After all, it is in ignorance
one thinks one may have identity only in oneself. Find
this bridge and be saved.
Whatever one believes in, one has identity in. A soldier,
for example, has his or her identity in his or her
country. He or she believes in his or her country. He or
she is held responsible for the crimes of his or her
country. He or she shares in the victories and rewards of
his or her country regardless of how perfect a soldier he
or she is. If we become soldiers of the one and only
truth, we share in the rewards and victories of truth
without having to be the truth ourselves.
Jesus, whose name translates "salvation" said
he is the Truth, the Life and The Way. By saying this he
was saying that he is indistinguishable from the truth,
and thus indistinguishable from God. In the Bible, he is
called "Immanuel", which means "God with
us". Since mankind could not reconcile itself to
God, God itself made an effort to provide a way for
mankind in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, that if one
believes in him and his message regarding salvation, and
accepts his sacrifice to atone for ones sins, one can
bridge this final gap to God through him. Jesus Christ is
a living example of perfect enlightenment, and thus
perfect love. How can anyone who is pursuing
enlightenment have a problem with Jesus? If you love God,
how can you not love Jesus? After all, Jesus loved God.
If you want to learn Karate, you go to a Karate Master
and become a student. If you want to know truth, become a
disciple of Jesus Christ who has a "black belt"
in truth. The way of Jesus Christ is the way of
enlightenment.
While the other Steps of Illumination may be reached many
other ways, and are supported by many different religious
doctrines, Jesus uniquely provides the only way to get
ones roots firmly in God and reconcile oneself with
truth. Jesus alone provides forgiveness for ones sins,
atonement with God, and a perfect example of living
enlightenment. To reconcile oneself to perfect
enlightenment is to become enlightened oneself and to
become reconciled to God. If A = God (Spirit), B= Jesus
Christ (Spirit of God made flesh), and C = Mankind (Flesh
created in the image of God which may be reborn
spiritually through Jesus), then if C can be reconciled
to B then if A = B and B = C then A becomes reconciled to
C. Though reconciliation is not equality, Jesus alone
provides a means for one to become a member of the set of
God. If one cannot humble oneself to Christ, how can one
humble oneself to God? It may seem ironic, but there
truly is peace through humility.
God knew no one could bridge this final gap of
enlightenment by oneself, by being perfect, and that most
people would not even try to be perfect. God knew that
the gift of free will would result in it being used and
abused against God's own will. So, according to God's
plan, God became flesh and led the perfect sin-free life
and was sacrificed on behalf of all mankind, that if
anyone would believe in Jesus, that simply accepting him
and his sacrifice, connects one to God through him.
Jesus believes in each of us and if we believe in him,
then by sharing our identity in each other, each of us
who believes may bridge this final gap. Apart from god,
our identity is temporary and ends in death, the identity
of Jesus is eternal life. He is our scapegoat, paying our
debt, being sacrificed on our behalf, so that we might be
able to reconcile ourselves with truth, and thus
ultimately, with God. In this way, one is able to make a
direct link between ourselves, existing in error, and
God, which is perfect and error free.
Jesus proved that he really was the Truth, the Life and
the Way by revealing himself resurrected from the dead
and declaring victory over death. One can share in his
victory if one believes in him. Jesus provides truth to
put ones faith in. If one believes in him, this
automatically grafts one to him like branches onto a
vine. In this way one may share in the benefit of his
roots, existing firmly in God. By accepting his sacrifice
as payment, one is forgiven for whatever shortcomings one
may have, and by his victory over death one shares in the
promise of everlasting life because the truth lives
forever.
Simply believe. Those who believe, recognize themselves
as sinners in need of a sacrifice and worthy of death.
Those who believe, further believe that they have been
forgiven. The alternative, trying to be perfect, which is
self-righteousness, will always fail and fall short of
the glory of God. If it was possible for mankind to live
without sin, there never would have been an incarnation
of God. But, Jesus said that not one person could keep
the ten commandments. This is why he came, that some
might live.
Jesus said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by
me."-John 14:6 When you accept the sacrifice that
happened on the cross as payment in full for all your
sins and put your faith in Jesus, you are reconciled to
God and obtain the promise of eternal life. Repent, or
ask God's forgiveness, and believe in your heart that you
have been forgiven through the blood of Christ who you
will then have identity in. In this way one may be
cleansed from ones iniquity. Metaphorically, nail ones
flesh to "the cross" and be reborn
"across" spiritually. Go, follow Christ, and
sin no more.
If ones concept of Jesus is not the Truth, the Life, and
the Way, illuminate ones concept of Jesus. It is the
error of mankind which finds fault in perfection.
OVERCOME THE FLESH
When one sees the world through new eyes, believes in
God, and has illuminated the truth regarding ones body of
flesh, one will realize that the body, at least in its
present form, is temporary. The desires of the flesh are
obstacles to God. When one has overcome the obstacles of
the flesh and grafted oneself to the truth, should the
flesh be taken away, one will still be with God.
Overcoming the flesh is not eliminating the flesh, but
illuminating the flesh. After all, the flesh itself is a
gift of God. God created mankind to be spirit and flesh.
Unfortunately, mankind fell away from the spirit of God.
Nevertheless, the flesh can be somewhat likened to a
ladder used to get to God. After climbing, or overcoming,
the ladder, should it be taken away, one is already with
God. One does not push the ladder away oneself as there
is still much to do with ones life. God will take one
when God will. The flesh itself is not evil, or to be
despised. On the contrary, God created mankind to exist
in the flesh. Unfortunately, the sin of mankind has
separated mankind from God and brought death to all.
Though it is appropriated that all must die as a penalty
for sin, at the day of judgement, the righteous are to be
resurrected into a glorified and everlasting body.
Jesus said, "That which is flesh, is flesh; and that
which is spirit, is spirit". The pursuit of
enlightenment is a spiritual pursuit. Likewise, the
pursuit of worldly riches is a fleshly pursuit. We have
been warned by Jesus that one cannot in honesty pursue
both at the same time, for one either loves that which is
flesh and despises that which is spirit, or vice versa.
One cannot run with both the hound and the hare at the
same time. Neither can one be both a sheep and a wolf.
OVERCOME FEAR OF DEATH
Why fear what appears inevitable? Accepting what may be
inevitable is the only logical belief. However, do not
even expect death, after all, only God knows how ones
life will end, or even if it will end. Live in the
present. Why fear death when one is confident in ones
belief and trusts in God? For many, the fear of God is
the fear of death. Free oneself of any lingering doubt
and delusion regarding death and God. Once grafted to the
tree of God, do not doubt the wrappings and ties one has
used to do so. The truth will hold. Rejoice in life, do
not cripple ones life by spending it in fear. Complete
love of God, which is complete trust in God, dispels any
and all fear. To overcome ones fear of death, overcome
ones attachment to this world. When one has overcome ones
fear of death, what is left to fear? When one has severed
ones attachment to this world, what is left for death to
kill?
FINAL UNION WITH GOD AFTER DEATH
Each one us will die. It is then that the ladder of ones
flesh will be pushed away, and one may remain joined with
God, the Ultimate Truth. God will usher the Children of
Light into the Kingdom of Light. This is the final stage
of enlightenment. The concept returns to the percept, the
Living Light. In God one will not perish, but have
everlasting life. At the day of judgement, one who is
righteous may be resurrected into a glorified body to
spend eternity with God.
